Lessons from the State level workshops

Shailaja Fennell

Current conditions in India

• Whi le the global average electrification rate in 2011 was 81.9 percent, the average electrification rate for India stood at 75.3 percent, with rural area having only 66.9 percent (IEA, 2013).

• In absolute terms, almost 77 million households in India were living without electricity in 2011 (GNESD, 2014).

The situation in Jharkhand• highest sectoral contribution, with mining and

quarrying accounting for 14.3percent of the GSDP, as compared to 2.3percent for the rest of India (World Bank 2007).

• World Bank Report on Jharkhand, indicated that close to half of the GSDP of the state accrued from industry with mining, quarrying and registered manufacturing contributing nearly 78 percent of the state’s industrial output.

• The plentiful availability of coal could be the basis for low-cost power generation-the state is free from the legacy of large supply of power to agriculture and low tariffs

• On the other hand, the use of carbon based energy generation can have very detrimental effects on the climate of the state-Jharkhand is vulnerable to acute climate variation and has a low adaptive capacity (GoJ, 2013).

Smart Cities Initiatives• After the launch of 100 Smart Cities Mission, the Government of

India is now shifting its focus towards building Smart Villages with its recently launched programme Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM)aimed at making villages smart and growth centres of the nation. Currently, the Government is preparing its plan for 2,500 Smart Villages by 2019.

• To ensure a standard of development, 14 components have been included in a list of parameters: skill development training linked to economic activities, agro-processing, storage and warehousing, digital literacy, sanitation, provision of piped water supply, solid and liquid waste management, village streets and drains, streetlights, fully equipped mobile health units, upgrading school infrastructure, village road connectivity, electronic delivery of citizen centric services, public transport and LPG gas connections.

Smart Cities need Smart Villages• The concept of Smart Cities based on smart grids and devices

is proposed as a mechanism to generate economic growth, create wealth and sizeable demand for rural and agricultural products, thereby enabling the shift from subsistence to commercial agriculture.

• However, in the rural areas, this shift to commercial activity requires higher agricultural productivity to bring about diversification of non-agricultural, income generating activities (e.g. food processing, construction, businesses and services).

• For a sustainable transition of the entire economy there needs to be a linkage of networks, both human and technical, between rural and urban areas to sustain growth and to promote the convergence of living standards for all citizens.

The logic• the provision of energy in rural areas can facilitate

improvements in education, health and skills in rural populations, particularly among the youth.

• This improvement in human capital will be an asset as young people move to cities, attracted by the service provision in newly designated smart cities such as Ranchi.

• Jharkhand, Odisha that have the lowest levels of urbanization, in the country, but has already tripled in size between 1970 and 2010, and is likely to become more attractive as it develops all the characteristics of a smart city.

A robust infrastructure system ensures that we are not only able to move goods and services, but also people in the most effective ways possible. In order to attract and retain quality jobs, communities need functioning infrastructure. Infrastructure can unite or divide us. Infrastructure properly designed can reconnect the social fabric of communities. Modern-day areas of the world are marked by unpaved roads, no electrical grid, lack of communication and low levels of technology.

The need for infrastructure development is one of the great global challenges of our time (Economic Survey 2015-16).